


A Work in Progress

by Feloncharlie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:49:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23627965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feloncharlie/pseuds/Feloncharlie
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 8
Kudos: 61





	1. A little bit of soul searching

**_Tell us about a time where you had to either take a risk or stay safe. What did you do? What happened? Would you do it again?_ **

Steve had been staring at the same college essay prompt for ten minutes, trying to figure out anything to write. The one thing that he wanted to write about was the one thing he was prohibited to talk about. They all signed the NDA’s when the whole thing with the shadow monster went down, and that was the only time Steve actually felt like he did something. He helped keep the kids safe, and he was damn proud of that moment, but unfortunately it would not be able to go on his college essay, due to the goddamn idiot government. Instead Steve had to bullshit about a time he had to take a risk or stay safe, and he had no clue how to even start. 

_ I felt like I had to take a risk in my final basketball game, senior year, when the other team had tied with us. I knew it was now or never to make- _ god that’s fucking terrible- _ The first time I really remember having to make that big decision was when I tried to ask out this girl Nancy- _ yeah because the college board is really going to think asking out Nancy was a risk in my life- _ When the new kid Billy came to our school I had to protect some kids from his actions and that’s the risk I chose to tak- _

Steve slammed his pencil down on the desk, and slammed his head down with it. He was never going to get into college if he couldn’t write one goddamn essay. Why did all the questions have to be so soul searchy? If he was being honest, the only reason he really wanted to get into college was to get out of Hawkins, to finally do something, besides his mediocre job at Scoops Ahoy. He wanted to go somewhere normal where people didn’t know about the Upside Down and didn’t have nightmares about the monsters they’ve fought, and he wanted to escape the tiny town that felt so constricting. When he wrote that in his essays he felt like some poetry writing kid that wore too much eyeliner, and he didn’t feel like it represented him. 

Steve stood up and paced around his room before returning to the essay questions. He skipped the risk one and went to work on the next. 

**What’s something you do well, and why do you think that’s important to who you are as a person?**

Well he’s a pretty good fucking babysitter, he can manage to get ice cream in a cone (most times), and he was the best basketball player at Hawkins High until Billy came along and completely smashed that. Somehow he didn’t think that the college would be exceptionally impressed with any of that. 

_ I’m not very good with the ladies, I don’t have many hobbies, and I’m pretty shit- _ they might not approve of cursing in a college essay- _ I’m not very good with the ladies, I don’t have many hobbies, and I’m mediocre at my job, but I am a pretty damn good babysitter. Not of like actual babies, more like twelve year olds- _ well that sounds fucking stupid- _ I was really good at basketball in high school in fact they called me King Steve- _ that’s pretty lame when you write it out- _ I am not good at anything, you should not accept me because honestly I don’t deserve to go to college, I deserve to stay in this shitty small town for the rest of my life.  _

Steve crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash, where it landed a foot next to the trash can, some basketball player he must have been. He ignored the paper on the ground and began to get ready for work. He ignored the walkie that had Dustin’s voice pouring through it, asking if Steve wanted to go out with them tonight, and he headed off to work. He had started picking up double shifts during the summer because they were always busy enough that he was needed, and it distracted him from everything else. All the failed attempts to go to college, the fact that everyone else in his grade was busy packing away for their new lives, the whole ordeal that had happened the years before, and the fact that everything around him seemed to be changing, except for him. He continued working double shifts as summer had ended and fall began, and he continued asking for as many hours as he could. At least when he was working sometimes he got to hang out with Robin, and the kids always tracked him down there if he didn’t answer their walkie calls for too long. He usually opened and closed the store, but with winter rolling around, Scoops Ahoy had cut down on hours and Steve had gone back to a mid shift every day. He picked up the shifts Robin didn’t feel like coming in for though which helped him stay busy. 

Steve pulled into the parking lot of the mall, only half full since there was snow on the ground and it was only 11:34 am so school was still going on for the day. Scoops itself was deserted because who wants ice cream when it’s 18 degrees outside, and you could instead get hot chocolate from the pretzel place staged right in front of the doors. 

Due to the mall being deserted he didn’t get a customer until late into this shift, around 4 pm, when Billy fucking Hargrove walked in. Steve was sitting on the counter, head tipped down as he worked on his essay questions for the millionth time, and he didn’t notice Billy until he rang the bell by the cash register. 

“You know Harrington that doesn’t seem too hygienic of you, to be sitting on the counter next to the food.” He smirked like he was the funniest person in the world, and Steve had to restrain himself from throwing his notebook at his head. He hopped off the counter instead, “What do you want?” 

Billy raised his eyebrow, “Ice cream, Harrington. That’s why I came to the store that sells ice cream. I had to drop Maxine off so she could hang out with  _ your  _ friends.” Billy said in an accusing way, as if to suggest that Steve being friends with the kids was weird. 

Steve didn’t laugh, he wished Billy would just fuck off so he could continue working on his shitty essays so he could possibly get into a shitty college. 

“What flavor do you want then?” Steve asked and pulled out a clean scooper.

Billy took his time looking at every single ice cream in the case, “What do you recommend Steve, you work here so you must have a favorite.” 

“I like the chocolate one.” He said quickly, in hopes to get Billy to pick a goddamn ice cream and leave him alone. 

Billy screwed up his nose, “You would Harrington. I”ll have a scoop of the strawberry.” 

Steve didn’t say anything else, didn’t even ask what cone or size he wanted. He just chose the standard and handed it over, “$1.25 is your total.” 

Billy took his time before he got out his wallet, he took a few bites of the ice cream and once he seemed satisfied he slid a five dollar bill across the counter. 

“Hey Harrington, you can keep the change. I know you probably need it.” Billy called as he walked out of the shop, leaving Steve at peace finally. 

The peace did not last for long. The kids were in the shop within minutes of Billy departing, it was like they were waiting for him to leave. Dustin had burst into the shop yelling about how he wasn’t sure if Steve knew how to use a walkie, since he never responded to it. 

“Oh calm down Dustin, I’ve just been busy. Plus half the time you walkie me you should be in school, you know, studying.” Steve had yelled before the whole lot of them piled onto him in a bear hug. They were affectionate kids, and Steve just barely tolerated it. They left an hour after they came in, all stuffed full of ice cream and none of them poorer for it, considering Steve never had them pay. He usually took it out of his own paycheck, and no one had said anything about yet. 

His notebook sat untouched by the side of the register for the rest of his shift, and continued to stay untouched even when he got home from work. He instead turned off his walkie, and buried underneath his blankets.


	2. Are you sure?

In the entirety of the four years Steve went to high school, he had never gone to the Hawkins public library. There he was, middle of his gap year, finally having entered the library, and he had never felt more uncomfortable. There were tables and chairs that lined the walls of bookcases, and he had no idea where to start. There weren’t that many people there which relieved Steve a little bit, nobody would see him as he struggled. 

With the librarian's help, he found the academic help section, and pulled down some of the college prep books and sat down at one of the empty tables. He spent an hour reading through the books and taking what notes he could, but at the end of the hour he had written two sentences and they had nothing to do with his essays. 

It was pointless. Steve would never go to college because he couldn’t even read a book about how to help him. He slammed the book shut and got the stink eye from multiple people, but he didn’t care. School was not something he had ever found easy, he had been in danger of having to repeat his senior year because he had failed so many classes. He had a feeling his parents pulled some strings on that one, they would never admit that though, that maybe their son was just a dumb ass who couldn’t pass freshman English. 

Steve didn’t notice anyone come into the library but when it was time for him to head off to work, there was quite the crowd inside. The parking lot had filled up and Steve recognized the ‘79 Camaro parked next to his car. He shook his head as he headed off to work, Billy didn’t seem the type to actually go to the library, he was probably dropping off Max or something, besides Steve hadn’t even seen him in the small library. 

Due to the lack of customers and things to do, Steve spent the entirety of his shift thinking about possible reasons for Billy to have been at the library. It really wasn’t the best use of his time, but he didn’t feel like working on his essays anymore and the shop was completely stocked and cleaned. He was banking on Robin showing up for her shift that night to stop the boredom, but she flaked for the one hundredth time, so Steve was left with his thoughts until he closed up and went home. 

The library the next day was more or less the same, where Steve stared at the same passage in the same book for way too long and actually didn’t do any work on his essays. The books weren’t working but there was no way in hell he was going to ask a librarian to help him with his college essays when he should have figured all this stuff out junior/senior year of high school, instead of going to parties, doing drugs, and fighting demons. 

Steve sighed and pushed the books away from him, which sent them crashing to the floor, causing everyone to glare at him, again. The library was not actually the best place for him it seemed. He packed up his stuff and hastily exited before he could be reprimanded for making noise in their precious library.

As he made his way to the parking lot he noticed that Billy was leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette with that stupid smirk on his face. 

“That’s the second time I’ve seen you make a scene in the library, Harrington. I’m not sure you are aware but you are actually supposed to be quiet in them, that’s the whole point.” 

Steve gripped his notebook tighter, to prevent him from “accidentally” chucking it at his head. Unfortunately Steve knew how that fight would end and he didn’t have the time for that right then. 

“Could you get your fat ass off my car so I can go home?” 

Billy only smiled at the remark, “So you’ve been checking out my ass then,” 

Steve didn’t respond, only continued to look at his car expectantly. 

Billy took a drag, “So what’s got you all riled up?”

Steve scoffed, “You don’t care or need to know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go home now.” Steve moved forward and unlocked his car. He couldn’t actually open the door due to Billy leaning directly on it, and he didn’t seem to want to move. 

“I saw you grab the college prep books, seems a little late for that doesn’t it, Harrington?” Billy bit as he stubbed out his cigarette. 

Billy had voiced the thoughts that had been running through Steve’s head for the last few months, and they sounded even more acidic coming out of Billy’s mouth. Steve didn’t think, he just swung. His fist caught the bottom of Billy’s jaw, as Billy grabbed onto Steve and punched him in the stomach. Steve tripped on the cement behind him and they both went crashing down. Steve rolled out from under Billy and landed a kick in his ribcage, Billy caught Steve’s foot and yanked him closer. There was blood on the sidewalk, and Steve didn’t know whose it was. He had smacked his head on the fall and Billy seemed to have a bloody nose. That only seemed to make him angrier as he continued to rain down punches on Steve. He felt his ribs crack and his lip split, and he couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. He felt alive for once, it was like the times he had held his hands under the hot water until he felt something, or done enough drugs he felt like he mattered. The pain from the punches Billy delivered made him feel something at least, yeah it was a whole lot of pain, but that was at least better than the nothingness he had felt the last couple of weeks. 

“The fuck are you laughing at Harrington?” Billy yelled, bloodied spit landing between them. 

Steve couldn’t answer, he just continued to laugh, which seemed to throw Billy off enough he stopped punching him. They sat on the sidewalk next to the library, bloodied, and one of them off in hysterics. 

By the time Steve finally pulled himself together and got up, Billy had left. He hadn’t said anything, he had just looked at Steve for a long time and then drove off. Steve sat on that sidewalk until the sun went down and he was swallowed by the darkness. He didn’t even bother cleaning himself up when he got home, just stripped to his boxers and fell into bed. It was strangely enough, the best sleep he had gotten in a while. 

Until Dustin woke him up. Steve was confused because he remembered turning the walkie off, until he realized Dustin was in his room. 

“Dude what fucking time is it?” He groaned as he sat up. He winced and tried not to show it, but every part of his midsection hurt like hell. He didn’t even want to know what his face looked like, by the way it felt it wouldn’t be pretty. 

“Jesus what happened to you?” Dustin asked as he stood in the middle of Steve’s room. 

Steve brushed off the question as he pulled on a pair of jeans, “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” 

Dustin checked his watch, “School doesn’t start for another 20 minutes, and I’m here because  _ someone  _ turned off their walkie.” Dustin held up the walkie accusingly, “I guess I’ll just turn it back on for you since you seem to have forgotten how.” 

“Sorry Dustin, had a lot going on.” Steve muttered. He moved past the kid and went into the bathroom. His left eye was swollen almost completely shut, his cheek and bottom lip were split open, and his nose looked like it could be broken. He didn’t bother checking the ribs, he could tell they were at least cracked. 

“How’re you getting to school?” He asked as he exited the bathroom. 

Dustin sheepishly smiled, “Uh I thought we could catch up on the drive.” 

Steve sighed, “Have you at least eaten breakfast?” 

Steve ended up making the kid pancakes and then speeding off to the school so as to not have him be late. He knew Mrs. Henderson wouldn’t approve of Dustin being late on behalf of Steve. Before Dustin would get out of the car he made Steve promise to answer his walkie more. 

“Go on I will not have you be late, and for once actually pay attention and do not use your walkie in school.” He scolded as Dustin ran up to the doors. He noticed Billy drop off Max in the car behind him, he drove off to go back home to hopefully go back to bed. Billy peeled out of the parking lot, and followed Steve all the way back to his house. He figured he was just being a dick and would drive past but instead he parked behind Steve’s car and got out. 

“The fuck are you doing Hargrove? Shouldn’t you be in school?” Steve couldn’t help it, he really had adopted the mom attitude. 

“Fuck off Harrington. I’m here to help you with your college essays.” Billy bit as he headed up the stairs to Steve’s house. 

Steve followed him, “How the fuck do you even know about that, and also I don’t need or want your help.” 

Billy laughed, “Well Maxine wouldn’t shut up about how pissed Dustin is that you never hang out with him anymore because you are so stressed with your college essays, and with what I’ve seen at the library I know you could use some help.” 

Steve moved in front of Billy and wedged himself between him and his front door, “Yeah no thanks I don’t want your help.” 

Billy shook his head, pushed Steve out of the way, and entered his house, “Come on Harrington I know I have better grades than you ever did. Count this as a blessing.” 

Steve walked in and shut the door, “Why the fuck would you help me anyways? What’s in this for you?” He knew Billy would have to have some ulterior motive to doing this. 

“Let’s just say it’s an apology for the broken ribs.” Billy said, Steve hadn’t even noticed he had been cradling his midsection. 

He rolled his eyes, “You don’t do apologies. Tell me what’s really going on here.” 

Billy didn’t answer, he just headed upstairs into Steve’s room. He quickly found Steve’s college notebook and books and sat down with them on the bed. 

“Seriously Billy what the fuck is this?” Steve asked as he moved to sit across from him. 

“Harrington, that was some shit you pulled yesterday. Let’s just say I recognized the behavior, and it doesn’t look good on you.” 

Steve didn’t say anything, and Billy moved on, “So talk me through what you have so far.”

And that’s how Billy and Steve began to hang out. 


	3. Charity Case

Steve hadn’t expected Billy to actually help him with his college essays, he figured he would read what he had, make fun of him, and leave. He had slightly hoped that would happen so that the whole nightmare situation of Billy Hargrove being in his house would go away. Instead Billy would come over after school when Steve wasn’t at work, and would sometimes even bug him while he was at work. Steve could hardly stand Billy in small doses, and now he was seeing him more than anyone else in his life, which wasn’t a hard thing to achieve considering the only people he actually hung out with, he had been ignoring.

Billy wasn’t nice about any of the help either. His version of helping Steve was pretty much making fun of what he wrote and having him rewrite it. Still, Steve had gotten more work done with Billy than he ever had in the entirety of high school. He was actually staying up and studying, doing research, and rewriting his essays just so that the next day Billy could read them and tell him if they sucked. He hadn’t expected Billy Hargrove to be his saving grace, but Steve had actually started to feel confident about his work and figured he could get into at least  _ one  _ college, if not more. 

The kids were pissed at him though. Every time they asked him to hang out he told them he was too busy working, which technically was true, but he never told them about Billy. He knew it would cause Max to freak out which would have Lucas in a panic, and then that would send Dustin freaking out, and then the whole thing would be blown out of proportion. It was easier and better for everyone if no one knew, and Billy agreed. 

“I don’t want anyone in this town associating me with you, Harrington. I’m helping you because you’re a fucking charity case and that’s that.” Billy had said one day as he had left Steve’s house. It didn’t really bother Steve, he had no idea why Billy had out of the blue decided to help him, and he knew neither of them really enjoyed the time they were together. He figured Billy at least liked being at a house that was quiet, where he could get some work done. Steve would sometimes catch Billy nose deep in a notebook, working on his own stuff while Steve fixed his. Steve had heard the rumors about the Hargrove household, the whole town of Hawkins had, so he figured if he wanted to work in silence for once Steve wasn’t one to judge. He just wished he would keep quiet while he was at the shop, since it was a store where families often came in, and Billy definitely wasn’t PG.

“Hey dickhead, what the fuck is this shit?” Billy yelled from the corner while Steve mopped up melted ice cream. Billy had taken up a permanent residence at the corner table in the shop, and would work on his school stuff there as well. There wasn’t any part of Steve’s life that didn’t involve Billy and school. 

Billy threw a straw at Steve as he walked over to see what he was referencing, “I guess I just didn’t like the prompt.” He said with a shrug before he headed back to the counter. 

Billy laughed, “You don’t just get to not like the prompt and not do it Harrington. Seriously are you even trying?” 

They had that argument every week, where Billy would belittle Steve over and over and ask him if he even wanted to go to college, and Steve would eventually blow up and scream at him, sometimes they’d fight, and then they’d get back to work.

“Well what the fuck am I supposed to say?  _ Describe a facet of your identity, background or story that is essential to who you are.  _ I don’t fucking have something that’s essential to who I am.” 

Billy stood up and began to read Steve’s essay out loud, “Basketball is an essential facet to my identity because I spent so many years dedicated to growing in the sport and I fel-” Steve jumped over the table and tried to grab the paper out of Billy’s hand, but Billy was faster than him. He spun around Steve and moved behind the counter and continued to act out the essay, “-The time I had on the basketball team shaped me to be who I am today and I would-” “God Billy would you fucking cut that out.” Steve yelled as he moved to take the paper again. Billy ducked and held the paper close to his chest, and Steve jumped onto the counter to get leverage. He just ended up jumping onto Billy’s back and clawed at his chest for the paper. 

The sound of the shop bell was what had Steve let go of Billy and hastily step away from him. The kids all stood in the doorway, “Are you serious? This dickfuck is the reason you’ve been bailing on us dude?” Dustin yelled and pointed accusingly at Billy. They all looked at Steve with a mixture of emotions, and the loudest was the pure rage on Max’s face. 

“I -um no guys that’s not…” Steve trailed off, he never was the best in confrontation. 

Surprisingly Billy spoke up, “Mr. Hair over here actually has been bailing on all of you because his writing is shit.” He smirked, grabbed his jacket, and left Steve to the group. 

They all stared at him, shocked into silence for once in their lives.

“He’s not wrong. For some reason Billy is really good at writing, and well I’m not, so he’s been helping me.” Steve said as he prepared their ice cream, he had all their orders memorized by how many times they were there. Dustin got three scoops each of a different chocolate flavor with chocolate chips on top (The kid had quite the sweet tooth), Max like a plain vanilla sundae, Mike liked one scoop of swirl with marshmallow toppings, Eleven tried a different flavor every time, Lucas got a bowl of vanilla with every topping on it, and Will got sherbet. 

“He’s an asshole who is probably using you.” Max said as he slid her sundae towards her. 

“Yeah Steve seriously he can’t be the only person in Hawkins who is good at writing, I’m sure you could find someone,  _ anyone _ , else.” Eleven said quietly. 

Steve rubbed his hands over his face, “Well this is where I’m at now guys. I’m sorry for ditching you, the essay deadlines are just coming up and I have already been rejected from all the first choice colleges I had.” 

They all piped up with encouragement and promised that they would help in any way they could. They even pooled their money together to actually pay for their own ice cream for once, which Steve still refused to take. He also promised they would do something soon, and he would answer the walkie more so they knew he was okay. 

Billy didn’t come by that night like he usually did, but Steve continued to work. He didn’t need Billy there to force him to do his work, it was just nice having someone there to be honest and tell him when something sucked. 

Steve worked for a few hours, got two essays done, and decided to call it a night. He told himself he stayed up later because he wanted to get his work done, not that it had anything to do with the possibility that someone could stop by.

Steve didn’t see Billy again for a few days after the Scoops Ahoy incident, not that he really minded. He figured Billy had just gotten bored of helping him and was off at some party or whatever. 

As Steve finished up closing the store the bell chimed, “Hey guys sorry we’re actually closed for the night.” He said as he closed the cash register and looked up. 

Billy stood in the open door, more bruised than when Steve had seen him last. 

“Maybe you should lock the fucking door then.” 

Steve laughed as the familiar smirk settled over Billy’s face. 

“I figured you were done with your charity case,” Steve grabbed the keys and headed towards the door, “Or is that what you’re here to tell me?” 

Billy shoved Steve’s shoulder, “I was just taking care of some stuff. Hope you managed to get something done while I was gone.” 

Steve locked the shop door, “Hey fuck you I wrote quite a few essays.” 

They walked out to the deserted parking lot, “Yeah, I bet they suck.” 

Steve shook his head, “Alright, you fucking take a look at them then.” He pulled the notebook out of his car and hit Billy in the chest with it. 

“You just keep your essays in your car with you at all times? I’m sorry to inform you Harrington, but nobody is going to steal these.” Billy quipped as he opened the notebook. 

“Fuck you dude I was getting work done on my lunch.” 

Billy leaned against the hood of Steve’s car and began to read the essays. Steve fiddled with his hands as he waited, he had really put a lot into those last few essays. He might even say he was proud of them, but he’d never say that to anyone especially Billy. 

Billy cleared his throat, “These are not half bad Harrington. They need some work to be college ready, but they are better than the rest.” 

“Whoa there Hargrove, that almost sounded like a compliment, are you feeling okay?” 

Billy laughed, grabbed Steve by his jacket, and put him in a headlock. They wrestled like that for a few minutes, Billy of course being the victor at the end. 

“You want to head back to yours to work on these? Or is it too late for old man Harrington?” Billy asked, already getting in his car. 

“Fuck you.” Steve said but he couldn’t hide his smile while he said it. 

They headed back to Steve’s where they spent hours on his bed and worked on the essays, talked about Billy’s plans after high school (Steve had to pry to get any details), and surprisingly enough they talked about the kids for quite a bit. Billy had a weird hatred for Lucas but refused to tell Steve anything about it, other than that he forbade Max from seeing him, which she obviously disobeyed. They worked for hours and eventually ended up both falling asleep on Steve’s bed, laid side by side, notebooks and pencils strewn about. 


	4. Movie Night

Steve had woken up in the middle of the night to see Billy had moved off of the bed and was quietly getting his stuff. There was a care in the way he moved everything around, as to not disturb Steve. He didn’t know that Steve slept as light as a feather ever since everything that had happened in ‘The Upside Down’, so he had woken the moment the boy made any movement. Steve watched as Billy collected his items, books, backpack, notebooks, and his papers that had been strewn about. He thought about asking him why he was leaving but figured it may be best if he left it alone, Billy would have told woke him if he wanted him to know. He smiled sleepily as Billy pulled the blanket over him, and he drifted back to sleep. 

Steve had spent the entire day on his essay for UCLA, it wasn’t a school he had particularly wanted to go to, but Billy had applied there and thrown it out that Steve should apply as well. They were incredibly selective though and you had to be at the top of your class to even be considered, and well, Steve knew he wasn’t that. He had struggled to even graduate high school so he knew UCLA wouldn’t accept him, but he and Billy had talked about going to college together, and it made Steve determined to at least apply. It was weird when Billy brought up the idea of them going to college together, it had made Steve realize how close they had become in the short time they had been working together, and he didn’t really want it to be over when Billy left for college. His essay for UCLA was more heartfelt than the rest, so he was nervous when he finally gave it to Billy to read over. It talked about how he had struggled in school at a young age but his father didn’t want to get him any help due to his high pride, so Steve was left to struggle year after year. He ended the essay talking about how he wanted to grow and get the help he needed and prove everyone wrong, and that is why he was practically bouncing off the walls while Billy read over it. 

“Harrington could you please stop whatever the fuck you are doing? I can’t concentrate and read this if I keep seeing you out of the corner of my eye, bouncing around.” 

Steve stopped as he spun around on his desk chair, “Sorry, just a little nervous.” 

Billy didn’t respond as he continued to read the essay, and Steve tried to sit still. He had exposed a lot about him in the essay, stuff that Billy hadn’t already known. 

Billy cleared his throat when he finished, “Harrington, dude, you just declined to mention you have dyslexia, like come on that is vital information here.”

“Uh I didn’t feel like it was important, I want there to be more to me than that you know?” 

Billy looked up from the notebook, “Steve trust me, you are way more than your dyslexia, but it would have made helping you with your essays so much easier.” 

“So I’ve been hard to help, huh?”

“Shut up Harrington.” 

Steve laughed and got up, “So how do we fix this essay?” 

Billy sighed, “It’s good, I like the personal effect this one has, against the other ones you’ve written. I think you should go for this with the others too, it’s going to help you. I think if I just go through and edit the sentences a bit, it’ll be good to go.” 

Steve beamed at the other boy, “That’s fucking amazing let’s get to it.” 

They worked on the essay for an hour, before Steve got up and paced around the room. His eyes had started to hurt, he had a persistent headache, and after he had sat shoulder to shoulder next to Billy for an hour on the bed, he had to get up and move. 

“You good Harrington?” 

“Steve sighed and shook out his hands, “I’m going to take a break. Go to the bathroom, get a snack. What do you want?” 

“Be back soon, princess. Bring me some chips if you could.” 

Steve left the room before Billy could see the flush on his face, and headed towards the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and tried to regain his shit. He had severe anxiety attacks when he was a kid, although they got milder throughout high school. They started to come back right after Will had been taken, and he had continued to have them every week since. His hands were shaking as he gripped the sides of the sink, and he tried to focus on the sound of the faucet as it dripped, the cold water as it ran down his face, and the taste of the pepsi he had drank. He slowed his breathing as he thought about Billy in the room next to him, working hard to help Steve get into college, he took a deep breath, he wiped his face off, and went downstairs. 

He grabbed chips for Billy, grabbed a sandwich for him, and headed back upstairs. 

Billy had moved from the bed and was sitting on the floor, next to the trash can by his desk. 

“Took you long enough.” 

“Can it or no chips for you.” 

Billy smiled and grabbed the bag from Steve’s grip with ease. He looked at the label for a second, “Barbecue, good pick Harrington.” 

Billy’s demeanor had changed since Steve had left. It felt like the boy was holding something back from Steve, but he knew better than to pry. 

“I think if it’s cool with you I’ll just take your essay home with me, really rework it at home. My dad wants me home to watch Maxine so I will have the time to edit it there.” 

Steve couldn’t help it, he frowned. He wasn’t used to Billy not being with him while they worked on the essays but he knew what Neil would do if Billy didn’t make it home on time. He had learned some of what went down at the Hargrove house by the small talks he and Billy had late into the night, so he couldn’t be pushy with that. 

“I mean does it really need that much more work? We could probably knock it out here quickly and then you could head out.” 

Billy smiled softly, “It’s UCLA Steve. This is a good essay, but it’s not a UCLA great essay, yet. It’s going to take a lot for this to convince them, and I think I can make that happen. Just trust me on this one.” 

Steve sighed and took a bite of his sandwich to avoid a response. He knew Billy was just trying to help him, but something felt dirty about him taking his essay home to work on, like he had nothing to do with it. 

“I guess if that’s what you want to do.” 

Billy smiled and shoved Steve with his shoulder, “It’s going to be kickass dude.” 

Steve laughed and stole the chips from Billy. They fought over them for a few minutes before Billy got up and headed out. 

Steve sat on the floor of his room, covered in notebooks, and alone. 

He ended up answering Dustin on the walkie that night, and he drove over to the Henderson's house to pick up all the kids, well all except for Max. 

They all bought a ridiculous amount of snacks and sodas and piled into the seats, while Lucas ran off to the bathroom. The previews had begun and the lighting had started to dim, it felt nice for Steve to go out and have normal fun again. He had been working so hard on his essays and on trying to juggle everything at once, that a nice movie actually felt rewarding to him. 

Mike stood up from his seat and started waving at someone, so Steve turned around to see Lucas and Max making their way over to them. 

“Please for the love of god tell me you did not sneak out under the watch of your brother?” Steve asked as they approached. An old lady shushed him from behind his chair and he glared, it was only the previews for god sake. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Max whispered and got into her seat. 

Steve felt a hand on the back of his seat and he was ready to yell at the lady when they whispered in his ear, “This seat taken?” 

Steve smiled at the familiar husky voice, “As a matter of fact it is.” 

Billy slammed Steve’s head down and sat next to him, “Heard you yell at Max about sneaking out, don’t worry I authorized this outing.” 

Steve moved his head closer to Billy's to be able to whisper better, “Aren’t you supposed to be working on an essay?” 

Billy laughed and his breath ran down Steve’s ear and onto his neck. 

“Don’t worry, pretty boy, it’s finished.” 

Steve was glad for the lack of lighting in the theater because the words  _ pretty boy _ had him bright red. 

The movie began and Billy moved slightly away from Steve, and the warmth of his body left with him, causing Steve to involuntarily shudder. 

Billy looked over to him and smirked, “Need to borrow my jacket, princess?” 

“Fuck off and watch the movie, Hargrove.”

He couldn’t explain why a little bit of him did in fact want Billy’s jacket. 

Steve startled as everyone began to clap, he had zoned out for the entire movie, and had no idea what had even happened. Luckily Dustin was talking a million miles a minute about everything he liked about it, so Steve felt pretty caught up. He had kinda spent the whole movie focused on Billy’s arm rested so carefully next to his, and how he bit at his fingernails, and routinely sighed and re positioned his legs.

They headed out to the parking lot, the kids sprinting in front of them. 

“How did you like the movie?” Billy asked as they shouldered through the doors. 

“Honestly? It didn’t really grab my attention.” 

Billy looked as if he was going to say something but Max cut him off, “Hey dipshit we gotta go before dad gets back.” 

Steve turned to the rest of the kids, “You guys ready to go?” 

They all turned and sprinted towards Steve’s car, he laughed as he followed them.

“Hey Harrington?” 

He turned around to face Billy, “Yes?” 

Billy sighed and jogged up to him, “The essay is good. I’ll give it to you tomorrow after school.” 

Steve smiled at him, “Thank you.” 

Billy shrugged, “They’re your words. I just fixed them up a bit.” 

“Get home safe Billy.” He turned and got into his car. He drove all the kids home and found sleep a little easier that night. 


	5. Get home safe-Billy's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a POV from Billy, it's a little bit shorter than the other chapters but if you guys like it I can do a couple more in the future. :)

Fuck. 

They had fallen asleep working on the essay, Steve had in the night curled around Billy and had the softest face while he slept. Billy sighed and gently pried Steve’s arms from around his torso, and slid out from the bed. He moved around Steve’s room carefully and grabbed all the shit he had with him. It was a wild mess of notebooks, papers, textbooks, and pencils littered about the place. He froze as he stepped on a pencil and it snapped in half, and he stared at Steve to see if he woke him. The boy didn’t shift in the bed, so Billy continued on through the mess, pulled the blanket back over the boy, and left for the night. 

His dad was awake when he got home, of course. He didn’t get much of a beating for it though, Neil was too hammered by then to really do much damage. He just liked to pretend to be in charge. 

The next day at school went by rather quickly and before he knew it, Billy was headed to Steve’s house to do their daily work on his essays. It was weird how much time they ended up spending together, it definitely wasn’t what Billy had in mind when he started the whole thing. It was mainly what he thought would be a good laugh, but instead he found himself having fun with the Harrington kid, and he looked forward to their meetings. 

He, of course, would never tell Steve that. 

That day though Steve seemed extra nervous as he bounded around his room while Billy read his latest essay. He could tell Steve had put more work on this essay then any in the past, and with the first paragraph he had opened up completely. He talked about the disadvantages of dyslexia and how he had struggled his whole life with a family that didn’t give him the help he asked for. 

It was personal. Which made Steve’s behavior make a little more sense. 

“Harrington could you please stop whatever the fuck you are doing? I can’t concentrate and read this if I keep seeing you out of the corner of my eye, bouncing around.” 

Billy frowned as he continued reading the essay. It got dark with how Steve had lost hope for college in middle school, and hadn’t regained it until the summer after senior year. 

He cleared his throat when he finished, “Harrington, dude, you just declined to mention you have dyslexia, like come on that is vital information here.”

He didn’t get it. Dyslexia wasn’t that big of a deal but it seemed like it had been a huge part of Steve’s life. 

They talked about the essay but Billy’s mind was elsewhere. The Harrington kid actually had some skeletons in the closet. 

He startled as Steve got up and began to pace, “You good Harrington?” 

Steve smiled at him, “I’m going to take a break. Go to the bathroom, get a snack. What do you want?” 

Billy wasn’t really hungry; he mainly just wanted to continue on the essay, “Be back soon, princess. Bring me some chips if you could.”

Steve hurried out of the room and Billy began to look around. They had their pile of work on the floor, the desk, and even the bed. He made a few piles out of the mess and threw away the few papers they had discarded. 

A small balled up paper laid by the wastebasket and Billy couldn’t help but pick it up. He unballed it and began to read. 

_ I’m not very good with the ladies, I don’t have many hobbies, and I’m mediocre at my job, but I am a pretty damn good babysitter. Not of like actual babies, more like twelve year olds _ . 

It was in Steve’s scraggly handwriting, it was the beginning of one of his essays. 

_ I was really good at basketball in high school in fact they called me King Steve. _

_ I am not good at anything, you should not accept me because honestly I don’t deserve to go to college, I deserve to stay in this shitty small town for the rest of my life.  _

Billy’s chest felt tight as he read the last sentence. Steve made the jokes but he had never taken them that seriously. 

He heard Steve’s footsteps as he came back upstairs and Billy pocketed the paper. 

He didn’t know why, but he wanted to help Steve get into college, not any college, but UCLA, now more than anything. Maybe it had to do with the fact that everyday they worked together Billy felt less and less like ramming his fist into Steve’s face, and the more they hung out the more Billy wanted to see him. 

Harrington was like a stupid drug that Billy had gotten fixed on. 

He knew Steve was smart and that he could get into quite a few good colleges, but he had a wonderful thought of them both going to the same college, and he knew what he had to do. 

It was pretty easy to get Steve to agree to let him take the essay home with him. He needed to leave anyway to go take care of Maxine while his father went off on some business travel, and he knew he could rework Steve's essay into something UCLA would love to take. 

He left with the essay in his backpack and his plan ahead of him. He wasn’t going to let Steve take too close of a look at the essay if he could, just so he wouldn’t notice all the changes. He would keep Steve’s ideas and most of his words, he would just make it longer and more emotional, really pull at the heartstrings. Maybe put a few lies in there just to add some spice, no one really told the truth in their college essays anyways. 

He had finished the essay a couple hours after he had gotten home. It didn’t really need that much work, Steve wasn’t as stupid as he claimed himself to be. He just had trouble with the wording of most sentences, so Billy had gone through and rewrote every paragraph until they were perfect. 

He was proud of it, and it wasn’t even properly his. 

He had heard Maxine grumble on the walkie about how she would never be able to get him to drive her to the movie to meet the rest of the kids. 

He of course wasn’t going to drive her somewhere. 

Until he heard Steve get on the walkie and tell Dustin he’d be there shortly. 

He didn’t explain anything to Maxine, just said if she wanted to go to the movie to be in the camaro in five minutes, she was startled, but she ran to the car. 

Steve was sat at the end of all the kids, as usual, and as Maxine ran towards them he heard Steve whisper-yell, “Please for the love of god tell me you did not sneak out under the watch of your brother?” 

Billy smirked as he pulled back Steve’s chair just slightly and leaned down, “This seat taken?” 

Of course it wasn’t, but Harrington was always so snarky. 

“As a matter of fact it is.” 

Billy contained his laugh as he sat down beside the boy and the lighting dimmed completely. 

He didn’t even know what movie was supposed to be playing, he had just got in his car and immediately zoned out until he found Steve. 

He didn’t even really like movies.

And Maxine was holding hands with Lucas. 

But Steve was breathing rather rapidly next to him and kept looking at him when he thought Billy wouldn’t notice. It made him feel like his skin was on fire. 

He sat and nervously bit his fingernails. 

He didn’t know why he had even came to a dumb movie in the first place. 

Some lady on the screen was doing a dramatic monologue and Billy could not keep the words in focus. 

He was distracted.

By the stupid Harrington kid who as supposed to be in college by now but didn’t believe in himself enough to see that he had potential. It probably had something to do with his flakey parents. Steve had never mentioned them to Billy but it was easy to notice there were never any new cars at his place, and Billy had never once seen anyone in the house but Steve. 

Billy clapped along with everyone else as the movie ended, and smirked when it seemed to spook Steve. He must have been in his own world. 

Billy hung back while the kids ran in front so he could walk with Steve. He figured he might have a few questions about the essay. 

Instead Steve stayed quiet. 

Billy moved past and opened the doors, “How did you like the movie?” 

Steve looked a little lost before he answered, and it confirmed what Billy had thought, that Steve hadn’t paid attention either. 

He was about to mention that, when Maxine ran up and cut him off. 

She was always ruining every moment for him. 

Billy froze as Steve began to leave, “Hey Harrington?” 

He wanted Steve to look back at him, just once more before he had to go back to his place. 

He jogged up to him, "The essay is good. I’ll give it to you tomorrow after school.”

It was lame but it was something. 

Steve smiled, “Get home safe Billy.” With that he turned and got into his car. 

Billy walked back to his car and drove them home with the words stuck in his head. 

_ Get home safe Billy. _


	6. Unexpected Return

The next few days had been hell for Steve. He had been swamped at work with Robin having suddenly quit, and all the deadlines for his essays were coming up. Most of the essays he had already turned in, but he still felt dread every day the end came closer. His parents had also unexpectedly come back from their trip so the house was filled with tension and Steve tried as hard as he could to stay out of it. His father took every moment he could to yell at Steve for still being at home and not being in college, and his mother just spent her days drinking wine and pretending she didn’t hear the shouting. He had spent more time than ever with the kids and had managed to stay out of his dad's way most of the time. 

His father never hit him or anything, but he made sure Steve knew that he didn’t like him from the moment he had been born. His father spent the entirety of Steve’s adolescence telling him off for anything and everything, so it shouldn’t have surprised them when he started acting out. His father just threw money on the problems and they usually went away. There was a reason Steve never got in trouble for any of the shit he pulled, his father made sure the rest of the town wouldn’t see what kind of son he had raised. 

He never missed an opportunity to tell Steve how disappointed he was in him. 

That’s why Steve had spent the better part of his days hanging around the kids or spending unnecessary time at Scoops Ahoy. 

He hadn’t seen Billy since the night of the movie either. Steve assumed he had seen his parents cars and not came by, but he never followed up at Scoops either. It felt like he might have been avoiding Steve, but he had bigger issues than worrying why Hargrove had suddenly fallen off the planet. 

He had been working on last minute revisions to his essays, he had to work on fixing up his house (his father demanded it be done, something about Steve being a bum the entire summer), and he had to pack his room up. That was another random thing his father had declared, he wanted Steve’s room packed up because they wanted to sell the house once Steve went off to college. Which meant they were very insistent that he actually go off to college. Steve knew his dad wasn’t above bribing Steve into some college just to get him out of the house, but Steve wanted to earn it himself. 

He had heard back from a few colleges already. He had gotten into the University of Kansas, Maryville University, a handful of the local colleges he had applied to, and the University of Michigan (which had surprised him a lot, they had a 26.5% acceptance rate). He had been rejected from Northwestern University, Stanford, University of Tennessee, University of Wyoming, and a couple more. He had kept his major undecided and figured he’d just start with his prerequisites but he saw himself doing something in business or law. Maybe it had to do with his father’s constant drilling about how business helps you in life, or how his father told him he could work at his company when he graduated. He ideally would love to go to school for something in the culinary arts. He never told anyone but Nancy, but he secretly loved to cook. He wasn't the best at it, but he enjoyed doing it, and usually felt at home in the kitchen. He had applied to a handful of colleges that had good culinary art programs but he had yet to hear back from them. 

His back up plan was to go to a community college somewhere and just get a place close to the campus, since his home was getting sold. He just had to figure out where he wanted to go. California sounded good, but that was mainly because Billy had suggested it. Steve didn’t actually know what he liked. He had never stepped foot outside of Hawkins, Indiana. 

One day while they worked on some essays, he had asked Billy what California was like. 

“It’s hot, and there’s sand everywhere even if you aren’t near a beach. It’s loud, always. Smells either like fish or piss.” 

It didn’t sound like a heavenly place, but when Billy spoke about it, his face changed. Steve could tell he was itching to go back there. 

Steve just wanted to go somewhere else. He had outgrown Hawkins, and the memories he had there. He also hoped if he got away that his nightmares might stop. It probably didn’t help that he lived in the house where Barb disappeared, and everywhere he went in Hawkins had some painful memory associated with it. 

He also just really wanted to get away from his father. 

He had been cleaning up the attic for hours when his father found him. 

“What have you even been doing up here for so long, taking a nap? It looks the same as it did five hours ago.” 

Which was completely not true. 

Steve had taken all the boxes out and put them in his room to be sorted, he had cleaned all the furniture and thrown away all the old trash, and had begun to mop when his father came up. 

No matter what Steve did it was never enough. 

“Could you take all the trash down to the dump please, it’s upsetting your mother.” 

Steve sighed but did it anyway, you didn’t argue with Mr. Harrington. 

He loaded up his car with several bags of trash and headed off to the dump. He rolled down the windows and turned the radio up all the way. It felt good to be out of the house after being cooped up in the attic all day. He stopped by the mall on his way back from dumping the trash, and found the party hanging out inside, they were of course in the arcade. 

Dustin’s favorite game was Galaga and it irritated him every day that Steve still had the high score on the game. He had gotten high one night with Robin and they played arcade games for hours, and Steve somehow wound up with one of the highest scores seen on Galaga, and Dustin could not bear it. 

Steve found him in front of Galaga, “Come on buddy, you’re not going to be able to beat it.” 

Dustin hung his head, “How did you do it?” 

Steve laughed, “I will never tell.” 

They made their way through quite a few games before they left the arcade. Steve had won enough tickets to get a small stuffed monkey. He presented it to Dustin, “Sorry that you will never beat me on your favorite game.” 

Dustin growled at him, but he took the stuffed monkey. 

Steve left them as they made their way to the food court, he had been gone longer than an hour but he didn’t think his parents would have noticed his absence. Still, he had to finish the attic and then work on his room. Not to mention they wanted him to deep clean the kitchen. 

He made his way out to the parking lot but froze when he saw Billy leaning on his car, parked right next to Steve’s. 

“Hey long time.” Steve said, it sounded as lame as he thought it would. 

Billy smirked, “Missed me?” 

“Terribly.” 

Billy had a bunch of papers in his hand and when Steve got close enough he handed them towards him. 

“I just thought I’d give you your essay since the deadline for UCLA is coming up.” 

Steve had pretty much forgotten about that essay. 

“You probably don’t need to read it over or anything, it’s all good, if you just want to send it in.” 

Steve started looking through the papers, it looked longer than the original he had given Billy, but it had been quite a few days prior. 

“Thank you.” 

Billy brushed off the thanks, “So where have you been?” 

“Uh my parents came home so I’ve been doing whatever task my dad gives me.” 

“I thought there were more cars in your driveway than usual.” 

Steve laughed and stepped towards him, “So have you been driving by my house?” 

Billy smirked, “So what if I have, pretty boy.” 

They were standing only a few inches apart, and Steve could smell the cologne Billy was wearing. 

“Well that’d be creepy dude.” 

Billy laughed a real laugh and shoved Steve backwards, “Fuck off.” 

Steve couldn’t deny, it felt nice to see Billy again. He actually had found himself enjoying the presence of the other. 

“You stopped coming by Scoops.” 

Billy whistled, “Wow pretty boy you did actually miss me.” 

Steve laughed and shoved lightly at his shoulder, “I just wondered where you went off too okay?” 

“Had to take care of some stuff.” 

“Always so ominous Hargrove.” 

Billy moved to get into his car but Steve grabbed the car door, “Tell me one thing before you go.” 

“Yes?” 

“Did you eat ice cream anywhere else?” He laughed at Billy’s face and shut his door. 

He headed back to his place and prepared his last few essays to be sent in. It felt good when he had them all finished and ready, felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. Even if he didn’t get into the schools he wanted or it didn’t go as planned, he had spent as much of his energy as he could and had tried his hardest. He ignored the tug in his chest when he thought about how he and Billy didn’t really have much of a reason to hang out after this. They had only really hung out and worked on essays, so it made sense that once Steve turned them all in, they would stop hanging out. 

He would just have to wait and see. 


	7. What A Mess We've Created

* _ A month later* _

Steve and Billy were both sat on Steve’s bed, envelopes from colleges sat in between them. Billy had only applied to a handful of colleges, but Steve had applied to more than he could count. Billy had three envelopes and Steve had eight that he hadn’t opened yet, they both had their UCLA letter. 

“Come on, let's just open the UCLA first, rip off the band aid.” Billy said as Steve stared at the pile. 

“Or, we could save it for last.” 

Billy sighed and opened one of his other envelopes, Steve followed suit. 

Billy had gotten into California Institute of Technology on a scholarship, and Steve had gotten rejected from the Culinary Institute of America which didn’t actually surprise him much. 

Billy had gotten into Pomona college, and Steve had yet to open the rest of his letters. They were the ones he was scared of. They were mainly all from schools in California that had great business or culinary art programs. 

He opened the letter from The Art Institute of California and read quickly through it. 

**He got in.**

They had a great culinary art program he had his eye on, and he had gotten in. 

“So what does it say?” Billy asked as he tried to grab the letter. Steve laughed and shoved the letter at him. 

“I got in!”

Billy grabbed Steve’s hand to steady the letter and read it. 

“The Art Institute of California? I didn’t even know you applied there.” 

Steve ripped into the rest of his letters, the UCLA one on the side. He got into San Diego’s Culinary Institute, American River College, and Mission College. The rest he had been wait listed from or rejected, but he didn’t quite care. He had gotten into the ones he was most worried about, besides UCLA, that letter remained unopened. 

“Do you wanna open them together?” Steve asked as they grabbed their letters.

“Yeah.” 

They both tore into the letter. 

Within seconds Billy yelled in excitement and pulled Steve into a hug, which was rare for Billy. 

Steve hugged him and shoved his letter behind him. 

“I’m really proud of you Billy, but I kinda knew you were going to get in.” Steve said as they tangled together. 

Billy pulled back, “What does yours say?” 

Steve forced a smile, “Uh they said the essay was really good, I just didn’t have the high school grades to get there. They recommend two years at a community college before I apply again.” 

Steve watched as Billy’s face fell. 

“Are you sure?” He snatched the letter from behind Steve and reread it. 

“But I thought if I rewrote the essay and made it that good they would take you anyways.” 

Steve frowned, “You rewrote my essay?” 

Billy looked up as he realized what he said, “No Steve I meant-” 

“You were just supposed to help me with grammar issues and misspelling.” He got off the bed and stood in front of the other boy. 

“Billy that’s fucked up! That essay isn’t even mine now.” Steve yelled, his parents had left a few days after they had come home, so he had no reason to keep his voice down. 

Billy got off the bed and approached Steve, “No no it was still the same essay you wrote. I just fixed all the sentences and added just a few things.” 

“That’s why it was so much longer when you gave it to me, and why you kept it until it was due, so I wouldn’t look at it?” 

Billy’s face answered Steve’s questions. He took a shaky breath but he felt the anxiety attack as his hands started to shake. What if the only reason he got into any college was because Billy rewrote his essays? He didn’t look at them much after Billy had fixed them up. 

Tears sprung to his eyes as he looked at Billy. He was breathing rapidly and couldn’t stop shaking. He felt like he was going to explode and pass out at the same time. 

“Steve, are you okay?” 

“I need you to leave.” It came out as a whisper.

Billy stepped towards him, “What?” 

Steve slid to the floor, “I need you to fucking leave!.” He yelled. The tears had started to fall, and he really didn’t want Billy to see him fall apart. 

“Steve it was just one essay and I really didn’t chan-” 

“Leave.” 

“Steve no you-”

Steve threw the notebook that was at his feet, at Billy, “Leave! Leave! Get the fuck out!” 

He was full on sobbing by that point and he didn’t care. 

He didn’t notice that Billy had slowly crossed the room and had sat down next to him. 

“Steve, it’s all okay.” 

“You don’t get it.” He sobbed. 

Billy slowly put his arm around Steve’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug, “I know you think you are worthless and that you deserve to stay in this shitty town for the rest of your life. I know you think you have no potential. I know your family fucked you up real bad and you don’t see how amazing you are.” 

Steve continued to sob as Billy spoke, his hand running through Steve’s hair. 

“You are smart Harrington. You are witty, and kind, and deserve anything you want in this world. You don’t deserve to feel worthless, or that you have no potential.”

Steve grabbed Billy’s shirt, “I didn’t even get into those colleges, you did.” His voice cracked as a new wave of tears racked his body. 

“Hey Steve hey, look at me.” Billy said softly as he pulled Steve to look at him. He had never seen Billy be so sweet. 

“Steve, I only rewrote your UCLA essay. It is the only one I really messed with, and I only did it because I read that note on your floor and I thought I could help you by getting you into UCLA. Then we would get to go to the same college. I know it was wrong, I-I’m sorry okay? Please just stop crying. I can’t bear to see you cry.” 

Steve wiped his face on his shirt, “I’m sorry.”

“Why are  _ you  _ sorry?” 

“Because I'm freaking out on you.” 

Billy laughed, “I fucked up. You didn’t.” 

“I threw things and screamed at you, which is so fucked up because you don’t need any more of that in your life.” Steve said softly. It had only just hit him what he had done. 

Billy smiled softly, a smile that held some sadness in it, “I don’t see you like that Steve, I wasn’t afraid you were going to hurt me. I was afraid because I had hurt you.” 

Steve shook his head, “You didn’t hurt me.” 

He looked down at their legs, intertwined, their torsos pressed together, and Billy’s strong arms wrapped around him. 

He blushed. Billy was strong, and he had spent months thinking about what it would feel like to be in Billy’s arms. Here he was, all it took was one embarrassing meltdown. 

“Congratulations on getting into UCLA Billy. I mean it.” 

He moved so they weren’t pressed against each other, “I am sorry for that uh meltdown.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” He looked at the space between them and Steve thought he looked a little disappointed, but it was probably just his imagination. 

He stood up and started to clean up the mess he had made. He looked at his letters. 

“Hey Billy?” 

“Yes Harrington?” 

“Well uh, I really want to go to the Art Institute of California, and it’s in Los Angeles.” 

Billy looked at him like he was crazy, “Okay, is that like a problem?” 

Steve laughed, “Sometimes you are so smart, but sometimes you are quite slow. UCLA is in Los Angeles.” 

Billy stood up, “Yes they are in the same place.” 

Steve sighed deeply, “So I’m saying we can still see each other, dipshit.” 

Billy moved closer to Steve and took the notebook out of his hand, “You would like to see me in California?”

Steve bit his lip, “That’s pretty much the only reason I applied for UCLA to be honest.” 

They were so close their chests were touching and Steve couldn’t look anywhere but at Billy’s piercing blue eyes. 

“Wow.” Billy breathed out. 

“What?” 

“I just didn’t think you actually liked hanging out with me or anything. Thought you were too good to be my friend, pretty boy.” 

Steve laughed, “Are you kidding me? I thought you were just hanging out with me for a joke. I’m not cool enough for you. I’m just some lame dude who barely graduated high school and has a stupid crush on the local bad boy.” He froze as he realized what he had said. He pulled away as Billy’s eyes widen, “I didn’t uh no that’s not uh fuck.” He said in a panic. He backed away until he was against the wall. He had fucked up. 

Billy walked towards him, “Are you saying you like me, pretty boy?” He walked towards him until their chests were pressed against each other, again. 

Steve couldn’t think, he didn’t know how to save the situation, he had surely just lost Billy. 

“I-I uh no that’s actually not what I meant.” He stuttered out. 

Billy ran his thumb across Steve’s jawline, “Man that’s a shame.” 

Before Steve could say anything Billy had moved closer and connected their lips. He was fierce and rough, but his lips were soft and warm. Steve’s head couldn’t keep up, they were kissing, but he had thought he had messed everything up. 

Steve reached up and ran his hand through Billy’s hair as they kissed. 

Billy pulled back slightly and looked into Steve’s eyes, “So pretty boy, do you want to go to California with me?” 

Steve couldn’t help but smile, “More than anything in the world.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you have it! This was my first Steve/Billy fic and I really enjoyed writing it!! I might do a second part of this with them in college, if that's something you guys would be interested in. 
> 
> Anyways thank you for reading and supporting this fic and I hope you guys enjoyed it.


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